Everything’s for sale! Or, at least, that’s the idea behind Stefan Dorra’s For Sale: The Game of Property and Prosperity. In this fast-paced game of bidding and bluffing to get the highest-ranking properties, it isn’t how much you pay for the properties, it is how much you sell them for. Manage your money wisely during the bidding and property acquisition phase, then outsmart your rival tycoons during the selling phase. Be the richest real estate mogul at the end of the game to win!

While school might be the last thing you’re thinking about over the holidays, Medieval Academy provides an education that is a pleasure to attain. Over the course of six rounds, players will compete as squires attempting to impress their respective knights. Master the arts of jousts and tournaments, complete dangerous quests, and polish your education by drafting cards to strategically play. By the end, the best squire will be knighted by King Arthur, himself.

Fans of Betrayal at House on the Hill, Letters from White Chapel, and Fury of Dracula will want to closely examine Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. In the game, players find themselves in a scenario of intrigue and murder. One player is the murderer, secretly choosing their weapon and the evidence they leave behind. Another is the forensic scientist who holds the key to convicting the criminal, but is only able to express their knowledge through analysis of the scene. Everyone else plays investigators, interpreting the clues, all while the killer is among them.

Almost as if there’s a new Star Wars movie coming out or something, Fantasy Flight drops two supplemental hardcover books for their Star Wars roleplaying system. First up, for the Force and Destiny system, Keeping the Peace. In Keeping the Peace, players will find additional materials for Guardians, including character options, force powers, signature abilities, lightsabers, armor, and much more. Out for the Edge of the Empire system is the Mask of the Pirate Queen adventure module. A multi-part tale for both seasoned and starting players, Mask of the Pirate Queen sends players on a hunt for the eponymous Pirate Queen.

What’s in the box? In Schrodinger’s Cats, the answer to that question is always indeterminate. A pseudo-scientific card game for two to six players, Schrodinger’s Cats has players running experiments, forming hypotheses, and trying to one-up each others research. Taking on the role of one of many cat physicists, like Isaac Mewton or Neil Degrasse Tabby, players will use their special abilities to prove their hypotheses and debunk those of other players.

There are plenty Apples to Apples clones on the shelves, but few that are as gorgeously illustrated as Dixit. Each card in the game features a meticulously drawn, dreamlike illustration. Dixit Memories is the newest expansion for the popular party game, featuring eighty-four additional cards to be mixed in with your Dixit base game.

Hotly awaited by avid Android Netrunner players, Data and Destiny is the newest oversized expansion pack to be released. A deck-based, head-to-head card game set in a cyberpunk future, Netrunner is one of Fantasy Flight‘s most popular Living Card Games. The Data and Destiny expansion provides over 160 additional cards for both the Runner and Corporation factions. This expansion also introduces three entirely new Runner factions!

Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a tile laying game where each player is trying to build the perfect castle, subject to the whims of the King. The Secrets expansion, out this weekend, provides more building opportunities, additional options for strategy, and a dash of intrigue to every decision in the game. Among these latter additions are moats, swans to be collected, and mazes.

You thought Asmadi Games could not out cute themselves after releasing Adorable Pandaring, but they may have with Meow. A simple deception game, similar to Ultimate Werewolf or Bang!, Meow has players draw cards that say “Meow” or “Not Meow.” On each turn, players will look at their cards and making a meow sound. Other players can call them out as being “Not Meow,” upon which the player must reveal their cards. If the accuser was correct, that player is out. If the accuser was wrong, they are out.

Reprinting the long defunct fantasy game, Elfenland, Elfenroads simultaneously expands and updates the original. Included in the hefty box is a double-sided game board, each used in an entirely different version of the game. In each version, players take on the role of a teenage elf that must pass through a maturation rite by traveling across the land, stopping at as many landmarks as you can. To do so, you will ride various modes of transport, including wagons, dragons, and unicorns, attempting to get to the end of the journey faster than anyone else.

Long out of print, Fury of Dracula has been revived by Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight. Featuring updated miniatures, artwork, and game mechanics, Fury of Dracula recaptures the hunt for the famous vampire lord from the original. In Fury of Dracula, up to four players take on the roles of the Van Helsing family and one player takes on the role of Dracula. The Van Helsing’s must use clues and evidence left by Dracula to hunt him across the board in an effort to eventually capture him. Dracula, however, may strike back at them, taking them out of the game.

There’s been a lot of rounds in the popular drinking game, Red Dragon Inn. Realizing this, Slugfest Games has released The Red Dragon Inn 5: The Character Trove, which, in addition to including four new characters, is also a gigantic box that can hold every single expansion for the game. As well, the box includes storage bags, player mats, and money tokens. Immediately giving you something to store in said box, Red Dragon Inn also receives three new characters expansions this weekend, sporting the sub-heading of Allies. Each character is able to call upon a familiar to aid them in the game.

Castle Dice is a unique one to four player game that centers around the custom resource dice. Each player takes on the role of a prince or princess who has been sent to construct a castle. During a game, you will roll a lot of dice, but due to the dice drafting mechanic, what you roll isn’t nearly as important as how you react to the combined rolls of all of the players. Game play is fast, but with tons of tactical choices every turn, and due to the dice, each game is different.

Combining elements of two games discussed above, Dixit and Fury of Dracula, Mysterium is an asymmetric cooperative game about ghosts and the supernatural. Up to six players take on the roles of ghost hunters, while a seventh player takes on the role of the ghost. The hunters will need to work in tandem with the invisible ghost, following clues and hints left by her, in order to lay her spirit to rest. Illustrated to the same incredible degree as Dixit, the cards from Mysterium may also be used as expansion cards for the Dixit games.

When ya got a shiny video ’bout the new Firefly board game, what’s the point’a talkin’? Just ignore the fact that they missed the shipping date by a month.

Marvel‘s first family finally comes to the hit deck-building game, Legendary.

This new expansion contains character decks for Johnny Storm, Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm, The Thing, and the Silver Surfer as well as baddies, Galactus and the Mole Man. This expansion contains one hundred entirely original cards to be added into the base Legendary game.

Rogue Traders are on a thankless mission across the stars, spreading the word of the emperor to all. And thankless may be a bit of a stretch, as they are well compensated by the missionaries they support. Faith and Coin is a new supplemental for the Rogue Trader RPG system, that provides entirely new endeavors involving Rogue Traders and Missionaries. Players will crush heretics, collect relics, and get embroiled in every other questionable action in between.

The fifth expansion pack in Against the Shadow cycle of The Lord of the Rings LCG, The Blood of Gondor, is out today! This Adventure Pack introduces special scenario rules for hidden cards and the Black Númenorean. Also included is an entirely new hero character and copies of player cards that enhance the Gondor setting.

Playing like a two-player version of Letters from Whitechapel or Fury of Dracula, Le Fantome de l’Opera is a head-to-head battle of wits set in the famous Phantom of the Opera narrative. One player takes control of the investigator while the other controls the phantom, the former attempting to narrow down suspects while the latter eludes him at every turn.

If you remember one thing from tonight’s post, remember this: My name is Inago Montoya, prepare to die.

Yes, folks, a party game that even those with six fingers can play. The Princess Bride: Prepare to Die is an Apples to Apples style party game made to accompany much drinking (just not poisoned wine) and possibly even mawage. Rounds rotate judges and players, with each player using two decks of cards (names and Prepare to Die) to construct asinine sentences, like “My name is Diablo Festivas. Prepare to shave your back.”

Yeeehawww, cowpokes (an’ cowpokettes)! ‘Day’s first post gonna be ’bout that rip roarin’ game some folks call Dakota. Actually all folks call it Dakota, that bein’ its name.

As much as it would please me to do so, I’ll cut the western speak for the rest of today’s entry. Yes, Dakota (that name again is Mr. Plow) is our first highlight today. In this western-themed boardgame, gamers choose to control either settlers or native Americans. This, officially, three to five player game (which, supposedly, can be played by two people just fine) involves resource control and management as the groups move horizontally across plains, mountains, forests, and other geographical locals. Dakota is bound to lasso you in if you’re someone who fancies the likes of Agricola and/or Settlers of America.

Name’s Ripper. Jack T. Ripper. Letters From Whitechapel (a game akin to Fury of Dracula and Van Helsing) pits cops against serial killer, singular, in this historically accurate recreation of the Whitechapel murders of 1988. One player will be chosen to control good ‘ole Jack while everyone else plays the coppers, hot on his trail. The goals are obvious: Jack has to kill five victims (street wanders who automatically move about the game board) and the police have to stop him before he does. As I mentioned, if you’re a fan of Fury of Dracula or Van Helsing, a lover of history, someone who read and enjoyed Alan Moore’s From Hell, or just hate prostitutes, Letters from Whitechapel offers a solid two hours of sleuthing and stabbing.

Oh Gnome You Don’t takes players deep into the secretive, and underhanded, world of Gnomes. Taking control of their selected G-man, gamers move their little guys about the board, digging for gems and trading items. Ah, but it wouldn’t be a game about Gnomes without a little mischief. Players are also allowed to set traps, fight, and play tricks on their opponents in an effort to stop them from obtaining resources. Simple to learn and redonkulous to play, Oh Gnomeis an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half with some buddies.

Earth Reborn is a game that’s worth its price tag! One lift of its massive box and you’ll realize it is stocked full of pieces and parts. Not only does it include twelve sweet lookin’ miniatures, cards, dice, tiles, cloth bag, tokens, and so forth, but it is extreme re-playability! The rule book is set up in a unique nine scenario walk-through that allows you to play as you learn. Along with that, the game board comes as a set of puzzle pieces that can be assembled as you desire. And, if you haven’t had enough randomization already, the game offers a system of play known as S.A.G.S (Scenario Auto-Generating System) that automatically creates unique scenarios each time you sit down to play. Apocalyptic future warfare has never looked this sweet.

Finally, a little bit of restock information. Magic the GatheringArchenemy Decks have returned. Made to be a standalone game that pits up to four players against one archenemy, each box contains twenty archenemy cards as well as a regular sixty card deck. Pulp has all four (that’s white/blue/black, red/green, black/red, and green/white), but is only selling them as a group. Hurry, hurry, they may vanish quickly.

If you find yourself in a similar situation of being caught between a giant dinosaur and a hard space ship, you might be playing Ticket to Ride with the new Alvin & Dexter Expansion. Being an alien and a dinosaur, respectively, what these two fellas add to the game are chances to mess with your opponents. They are playable with any version of Ticket to Ride, also. But what do they actually do? Well, at the start of the game the last two players to go randomly place them on cities. Whatever cities these monsters are destroying are not available to be built through; makes for a good way to block opposing players. If you love the Ticket to Ride series, like we do, I’m sure, also like us, you’d think it rocks to have giant monsters stomping all over the board.

Last week we scoped out the zombie restaurant business by looking at Give Me the Brain. This week, and another restock, brings us Lord of the Fries, Steve Jackson’s companion game to Give Me the Brain. Same theme, different rules, though. This time around, players are zombie chefs attempting to complete disgusting cuisine at various undead eating establishments. Attempting to beat the clock, players hustle to assemble items listed on menus with ingredients like “cow meat”, “sauce” and “drink”. Think Wasabi with zombies.

London is calling. Calling you to play London. Yes, the game is called London (not the most original name, but apt) and it follows that particular city through an extended period of time as it recovers from the Great Fire of 1666. Basically a resource game, London involves players balancing and controlling workers, money, businesses, and building materials as you work to restore the city. But not only are you handling resources, you also have to balance workers and the poor to help assist the city in the rebuilding process.

Arriving from “ole reliable” Z-Man games is Hansa Teutonica. A solid bidding/bartering/trading game, Hansa has gamers taking on the role of merchants in medieval Germany working to build prominence by improving their trading skills. With improved skills come more actions, higher income, new privileges, and improved prestige which, in turn, improves your chances of besting the other players. If you’re into games like Samarkand and Chinatown, this should tickle your fancy.

Battlore adds a new expansion this week with Code of Chivalry. It’s raining humans with this set, as it combines all the previously released human units with foot and mounted versions of Knight Long Swordsmen. Many and varied cards are also included, including the inclusion of summary, specialist, and deployment cards. Four new adventures are also jammed into this box of glorious-ness.

Put your fedora on, ladies and gents, Cargo Noir has slinked into the room. Created by the same dapper fella who laid some scribbles down on Mare Nostrum and Mystery Express, Cargo Noir hunkered down in the dark, smoke-filled corner of trading games. Anywheres between two and five wiseguys can swindle and swap in ports of call from Rotterdam to Bombay, dealing in contraband and other hush-hush products. Once you’ve sided with a family, players race against their opponents for a prime spot at various ports from around the globe and then commence bidding for the goods they desire.

Le Havre is a involved game. If you’ve played Agricola (made by the same folks) you know how strategic and diverse the game play can be. Le Havre, the town, only contains a finite amount of buildings and ships, so players race to control, alter, and purchase resources in the hopes of completing these buildings and ships. Buildings, once finished, can be entered by any player (though non-owners must pay to do so) and the kilns, furnaces, and other equipment inside can be used to alter resources. And so it goes, in the city of Le Havre. Or is it? Pick up the Le Grand Hameau booster pack we have in stock and you add 30 new buildings to the game.

The commies are no longer coming, they’ve arrived. Tide of Iron: Fury of the Bear is an expansion to the base Tide of Iron boardgame, but what an expansion it is. This hefty box (could be a dumbbell for how weighty it is) contains, deep breath, 90 plastic figures, armor, AT-guns, eight scenarios (including winter and summer), 55 new cards (including new sabotage cards), and new munitions specializations for vehicles. Whew.

Weird coincidence on this next one, I just watched the original Dracula for the first time this week. Crickets? Okay, that was pointless. Anyway, Van Helsing is a new co-op game where players team up to battle the Count in his own castle. Each player controls a specific character, similar to Last Night on Earth. Sounds like Fury of Dracula on a smaller scale. Equipment and armor is hidden around the building, though, so grab it when you can because Dracula can show up out of nowhere.

Trollhalla, another dandy from Z-man, is the first true kid’s game we’ve had on here in a bit. Colorful cartoony artwork adorns a game board displaying, wait for it, Trollhalla. Each player (2-4) carefully chooses where to place their trolls, in boats or in the sea. The sea trolls tell the boat trolls which islands to go to and pass out action cards while the boat trolls go to the islands an pillage their massive hearts out. Simple, lively fun for families and friends.

You’ve wanted to be a superhero before, right? Come on, admit it. Well, you have two options. Make a costume out of a bathrobe and patrol the city in your Ford Focus or purchase Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition. In this beautiful book you will find all the stats, skills, powers, setting, and adventures that you need to run a D20 based game. And thanks to the new upgrade, new players can learn faster than ever before. Seriously, the bathrobe thing will turn out badly. Go with the book.

Thunderstone: Dragonspire lands with a powerful smash this weekend. Within its fortified box sides are 500 new cards, new settings, new rules, and a whole new game to be played. Yes, you can use this expansion for stand alone play or combine it with any of the previous Thunderstone releases. Now is the time to crawl in the dungeon.

Right now, you’re probably wondering to yourself, “how long have I been reading this thing? When will it end?”. Well…NOW!

Sort of. Mansions of Madness is finally out this week and we have got to talk about it. We’ve run demos of the game here at Pulp two Sundays in a row (Sunday game night, folks. It’s the place to be) and players have walked away satisfied. Combining elements of roleplaying, boardgaming, and Lovercraftian horror, Mansions delivers an experience similar to Arkham Horror or Betrayal at House on the Hill. Players band together to explore the mansion in one of the pre-designed story settings. Monsters and items involved are dependent on which story is chosen, so replay value is high. To complete the adventure, players are tasked to battle creatures, solve puzzles, and locate items while rolling dice and keeping their health and sanity in check. As the game is released from Fantasy Flight, the miniatures contained within (24 of’em) are highly detailed just as the board is beautifully designed.

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